Flivvers coach Jaclynn Kreider was happy her team finished off its 18th win of the season, but happier that they battled hard in a traditionally tough place to play.

“I’m excited that we were able to play in this gym, against a competitive team in a nice environment at the end of the season, and be able to walk away with a win,” she said. “It’s been a great season, and I was really hoping that we could end on a high, so it was nice to be able to do that.

“We had Crystal Falls on Tuesday, and then Houghton today. I think it’s critical for us to be able to be playing competitive, stressful matches here at the end, so that we’re ready for next week.”

Gremlins coach Blaire Zenner liked most of what she saw from her group, despite the final result. However, there are still areas in Houghton’s game that she would like to address before Monday.

Houghton middle hitter Sophia Neves jumps to spike a ball during a match against Kingsford Thursday at the Houghton Gym. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

“I thought my team played well,” she said. “We struggled with serve-receive a little bit, especially in the second two sets, just getting those passes to where we wanted them to be. I thought we served aggressively, but still had some service errors at crucial times where you can’t miss a serve. That was not something that helped the swing of the game.”

At various points in the match, including in the first set, the Gremlins trailed by as many as six points, but they found ways to storm back to even. Zenner felt that, in those moments, her team found ways to push the Flivvers.

“I also thought we did a good job of reading the floor for the most part,” she said. “There were times where we were caught on our heels, but we found a way to take advantage of them running a six-two, or having two setters in the back row, and pushing it to Zone One, finding ways to get them out of system, make their setter take the first ball, and have to find a way to get it back over to us.”

In the opening set, the Gremlins got some strong play out of senior Danica Ryynanen and senior Sophia Neves. The duo helped the Gremlins turn a 14-9 deficit into a 22-18 advantage before the Flivvers caught fire late to win the set.

Ryynanen finished her night with seven kills and Neves had six to lead Houghton’s offense. Ryynanen also served well with three aces. Ryynanen was also crucial defensively, as she racked up seven blocks.

The reason the Flivvers were able to finish the first set so strong was the play of junior Maddy Kreider. She finished her night with 11 kills, one ace, and 13 digs.

Jaclynn was very proud of the effort her daughter put forth throughout the match, because she finds ways to be effective all over the court.

“With Maddy, I think it’s kind of just the all around,” said Jaclynn. “She really uses her IQ to make, I think, smart plays. She’s got leadership in what she’s doing, and tries to keep the energy high.”

Of course, it is easy for Maddy to keep the team’s energy high when all of the Flivvers’ weapons are chipping in offensively, which is something that Jaclynn stresses is crucial to her team’s success.

“We have a lot of kids that we feel comfortable going to, right?” Jaclynn said. “We rely on our defense and our serve-receive. We’ve got great back row players, there’s no doubt about it. We serve well, and we have a lot of great servers.

“You’ve got all those parts of it, but then when you come to your hitting, we have a lot of kids that we can distribute the ball to. If we become one-dimensional, we’re going to be easy to defend. So it’s nice that we have a lot of kids that we can distribute the ball to.”

Junior Kailey Sundquist had nine kills on the night and junior Jenna Viau added eight kills to help keep some of that pressure off of Maddy.

In the second set, the Flivvers controlled the pace with some smart serves, which put the Gremlins back on their heels a lot. However, Houghton found ways to keep things even until junior Ellory Nash picked up the first of her three aces on the night, allowing the Flivvers to turn a 10-10 score into an 18-13 lead.

Houghton could not pull even before Sundquist sealed the set win with a kill to the middle of the front row.

In the third set, again trailed 14-8 after a Maddy Kreider kill. That lead was stretched even further to 19-12 before Houghton started chipping away, getting all the way back to down just a point at 22-21 before an errant serve put Kingsford back up by two.

Houghton again closed the gap to a point, but no closer before Kingsford closed things out.

GREMLINS TO FACE ESKYMOS

The Gremlins will face the Escanaba Eskymos on Monday in a match scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Zenner feels that having faced Hancock last Thursday and Kingsford a week later helped prepare her team to battle Monday.

“We saw Escanaba at their tournament,” she said. “They find ways to get that ball on the floor, tips, rolls, swings, whatever it is, they find a way. They’re also very scrappy, so that is going to be a focus for us.

“I think these games have been really good for us both physically and mentally. They’re challenging teams. They don’t make it easy, and playing teams that force you to step up and face adversity when you’re losing, has been very beneficial for us. I think that’s going to be a big part of Monday for us.”

REMATCH LOOMS

If the Gremlins defeat the Eskymos, they will return home Wednesday to face the Flivvers, who will come into the match rested as they have an opening round bye, which can be a challenge in itself. Jaclynn Kreider feels that her team needs this short rest, however, after closing the season with Crystal Falls Forest Park and Houghton.

“I don’t always love a bye, but, in some senses, I think with it being competitive this week, Tuesday and Thursday, being on the road both days, it’s going to be nice to come back on Monday and Tuesday and have some good practices,” she said.